Apparatus for the carbonization of coal, peat, wood, and the like



Oct. 3, 1933. c wlNZER 1,929,132

APPARATUS FOR THE CARBONIZATION OF COAL, FEAT, WOOD, AND THE LIKE Filed March 10, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTO R Cizaz'lesflurfinm'n er ATTO RNEYS Oct. 3, 1933. c wlNZER 1,929,132 A APPARATUS FOR THE CARBONIZATION OF COAL, FEAT, WOOD, AND THE LIKE Filed March 10, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 44 I Z3 Z9 INVENTOR ATTORN EYS Patented Od- 3 v I, 1,929,132f APP RA R .rHEcAaBomznmN 01v}, AL PEA'r, woon, ANDIVTHE .1 m Charles Burton Winzer, London, 'a g ApplicationMarch 10, 1930, SerialNo, 434,689, 7

, a in Great Britain March 22, 1929;

eclainis (01. Zoe- 115 V 'Ihisinvention relates to the carbonization oi coal, peat, wood and:'like .materials, and has for anrobject to provide improved *apparatus whereby the process of carbonization and the collection of the resulting by-products may be carried outsefiiciently, rapidly and economically.

According to thelinvention an' apparatus for v carrying out such carbonization and collection. of by-products comprises essentially a series of:

10 stationarycontainers orretorts for ,material tov be carbonized, a travellingtunnel or enclosure f within which said stationaryscontainers or re-.3 torts are mounted, and means for. maintaining a part, or parts, of saidtravelling tunnel at:a temlli perature high enough to bring about carboniza tion of the material in such containers-brimtorts asare at any time within said part or parts or the tunnel or enclosure i j l Preferably, the meansafor heating that part, o'r,

parts, of the tunnel which is, or are, maintained at carbonizationtemperature,'comprise a hollow,

) or doublewall-at said'part, or;part's,-=and-'means wherebyproducts o1 gaseous-combustion, and/or producer gas, at an appropriate temperature may be circulated through said hollow 'wallr :i

I! desired, however, oneror more furnaces may be mounted for movement with the" travelling tunnel at that part, or parts thereof to .be- 1 x V r g the tunnel or the egressbfhot gases therefrom lheated. Inall cases, the arrangement is such that, ow-

ing'to the traveler motion-of the tunnel, the

temperature of each-of the'containers or re'-' torts is gradually increased and decreased'aI- ternately, and means are provided whereby each container orretort may becharged' or recharged while ata relatively low temperature.- One or more pipes or ducts communicate with each container for collecting and leading' off gaseous by-'products which are evolved while its contentsflare at a relatively high temperature,

it being very simple, owing-to the fact that the tion and at its lower part with a door through which carbonized material may be discharged therefrom, it being desirable that each container; or retort should" be" provided internally with'a number of vertically disposed webs,'flns or the like for preventing the formation therein of too solid 2. carbonized-masswhch m m-render diflicult the discharge of the container. Such webs, fins or the like may in some cases serve to stiffen and strengthenthe container or retort,

but, if desired, they may be mounted'for motion within the container or retort so that they may serve to break up the carbonized material, and

thus to facilitate the discharge of the latter.

If desired, the containers or retorts may be provided'with means whereby carbonized material may be"'discharged therefrom at their upper ends. a

In order that-the apparatus-may function in a more or less continuous manner, the containersor retortsmaybe arranged in an endless series;

of circular or other formation, thetravelling tunnel or enclosure being-"formed in a like manner. Thus whilegsome of the containers or retorts (say two-thirds) are being'heated the remainder (s ay one thii dfthereof; may he ate relatively -low temperature and. be then dis'-" charged, andrecharged with fresh material.'

In such a case it isdesirable that-meansfsuch as transv'erse' sliding doors in the tunnel, should be'providedwhereby some (say oneethirdf of the containers or retorts which are not b'eing heated 'mayibe isolated from "the remainder for discharging andio'r recharging; By such means,

thein'gressbf coldai-r into the heated'part of may be prevented during discharging and rechargingoperations.'

pparatus according to one form of the invention' is illustratedby the'accompany'ing diagrammaticdrawings oi"which:--

Figure 1 is apart sectional 'planviewi'and' Figures 2 and: 3 are sectional elevations-on the lines 2-'-2 and 3-3 of Figure 1, respectively.

An annular tunnelor-enclosure 11 of inverted U shaped cross-section is mounted upon wheels such as 12,- 12 (Figure 2) whichrun on rails 13, 13; for rotary motion about its own-axis-over' a continuous circular series of containers 14 for material to be carbonized, the tunnel 11 being provided with: an internally' toothed-ring, indicated at 15, with which meshes apinion (not imparted to the tunnel '11; f

The tunnel 11 is provided with arr-interior wall' llwhich ispreferably also of invertedU-shaped' crosssection lFig. 2) and which extends for ap gas pipe19, connected through branch pipes?20,j

a common swivel joint 21, and a supply pipe 22 with a source (not shown) is adapted to supply hot gases, such as producer gases, to the upper part of the space between the inner and outer walls 1'1 and 11 of, the tunnel.- forwhich purpose further branch pipes 23 lead off from the pipe 19 at intervals and communicate each with an opening'24 (Fig. 2) in the outer wall'of the tunnel 11. From these openings 24 hot gases pass downwardly between the inner and outer walls 17 and 11 to the lower part of the space therebetween, wherethey pass through openings 25 in the inner wall 17 and then upwardly over and around the containers 14 a'ndilnally out of the apparatus through'a chimney 26-(Fig. 1). Each pipe '23 is provided with a cock 27 for controlling the passage of gases therethrough, and at the delivery side of said cock 2 7 a furtherlb'ranch pipe 28 is connected therewith. The qbranch pipes 28 communicate with an air pipe 29 sup-,

plied withiair by means of furtherbralnch pipes 30 connected with a source of supply in the same manner as are the gas branch pipes20, whilst the flow of air through each branch pipe 28'is controlled by a cock 31.v It will thus be ob-' served that'the temperatureof the double-walled portion or the tunnelll and that-jof those of; the containers 14 which at any time are within said portion, may be controlledas desired If gases other than air may be supplied via,

the pipe 29 and branch pipes 28. As the hot gases pass first between the inner, and outer walls 1'? and 11 of the tunnel before enteringtheinteriorof the latter; thetemperatureprevailing in "the tunnel: 11 may readily be maintained at a f baths'33, 33 as shown in Figure 2. Each of the containers 14 extendsacross. an annular well 34,

communication between which andthe interior of the tunnel 11 between adjacent containers.

14 is prevented by cover or seal plates 35 extending overthewell 34.; a

g Each of the containers 14 is provided with a top lid '36 for charging and with a bottom lid 36a for; discharging. For charging, a hopperB-Iv (Fig. .3) is mounted upon the single walled portion of. the tunnel for delivery of material to .be-

carbonized into a single container 14 at a time through thetop of the tunnel 11-,-a shutter 38 serving-t0 control the delivery of material from the hopper 3'1, whilsta door 39 is provided in the tunnel 11- to provide access to the containers 14. Preferably, means (not shown) are provided for opening and closing the lid of the container 14 below the hopper 37 without necessitatingthe, opening of the door 39, in order to prevent loss of heat due to the passage or cold air into, and hot gases out of, the tunnel 11.

In order that loss of. heat fromthe interior of the tunnel 11 may be avoided as far as is practicable during the'discharge of the containers 14, sliding doors 40, 40:are provided in' the single walled part of the tunnel whereby a group of containers 14 may be isolated (see particularly Figure 8 of the drawings.) Any desiredmeans (not shown) may be provided for opening and closing the bottom doors 36a of the containers 14 between the closed doors 40, 40, andthe discharge is made into the buckets 410i a circular endless conveyor disposed in the lower part of the well 34' beneath the seriesof containersxl4. -A-second bucket conveyor, indicated at 42, is arranged bepa at s.

neath the conveyor 41 to receive the contents of the latter and to convey them away'fro'r'n the apparatus. i

' Each container 14 is formed internally with longitudinal ribs or fins 43 (see Figure 1) to prevent the formation thereon of too solid a carbonized mass, and forstrengthening purposes. The containers 14 are connected in groups of three (Fig. 3) by offtake pipes 44, two for each group, for leading ofi fluid by-products evolved during the carbonization process. These pipes 44 lead to a common pipe 45 encircling the series of contairiers 14 and from which oiftake pipes 46 lead to receivers for the by-products or to distilling ap- In operation, rotary motion in an anti-clockwise direction is imparted periodically to the tunnel 11, the containers being charged and discharged during the periods at which the tunnel 11 tle or no heat waste occurring; 1

his desirable in most cases that the containers or retorts should be formed from cast iron, and

as; an example of the temperaturevariation of the co'ntainersor retorts as the tunnel is moved thereover, a container or retort may be discharged at a temperature of about 200 C.jand then after being recharged, and as a result of the passage of the heated portion ofthe tunnel thereover, may-reach a maximum temperature of about 600 C., asufficient length of the. unheated part of the tunnel passing thereover before the doors 40,40 reach the container or-retorts for the latter .tohave cooled to a temperature of 200 C. ready 'for discharge.

..It will benoted that the apparatus may readily be arrangedtor a ground level at the-line A-B or at the line X-Y (Figure2) l It will be observed also that owing particularly to the use. of stationary containers or retorts, there-is very little risk of contaminationv of'the by-products or of the carbonized material obtained.

-What I claim is: 1. Anapparatus for the carbonization of coal and other carboniferous materials and forthe collection of the resulting by-products comprising, in combination, an annular enclosure mounted for rotation about a vertical axis; means for rotating said enclosureperiodically about said axis; a circular series of stationary vertical retorts within the enclosure; each retortbeing chargeable the top and dischargeable at the bottom; means fixed to the rotary enclosure for charging the retorts from outside the enclosure; means for dividing the enclosure into a charging zone, a carbonizing 7" and a discharging'zone so as to isolate a group of the retorts from the remainder of the retorts fordischarging said group 'of. retorts; means for maintaining the carbonizing zone at a carbonizingtemperature; and means for conveying away gas from the retorts.

-2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means for dividing the enclosure into charging and discharging zones comprises at least two sliding doorswhich are movable across the enclosure from the outside to shut off a group of retorts from the remainder.

. central axis permitting connection 01' the rotataable hot gas pipes with a stationary main supply pipe the means for maintaining the temperature further comprises a' circular air pipe extending around the insidewall of the annular enclosure and rotatable therewith, with branches leading to the hot gas inlets near the top of the enclosure 7 and branch supply pipes directed towards the central axis of the enclosure, andadapted to' be connected with a-stationary main air supply pipe. 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the enclosure is double-walled for the greater part of its circumference providing'a gas jacket and single-walled for the remainder, the charging and discharging means being arranged forthe most part above and below, respectively, the

single-walled section.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim'l wherein the means for conveying away gas from the retorts comprises a circular stationary pipe and Ofltak pipes connected with said circular pipe and extending upwardly through the enclosure for connection with the individual retorts, other the circular pipe for conducting gas from the retorts to other apparatus. V I

7. Apparatus .as claimed in claim 1 wherein the retorts are arranged in groups of three with two ofltake pipes for each group connected by lateral branches with the retorts near the tops V thereof. 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein 8, Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rotatable annular enclosure has an outer and an inner wall each of inverted U-shape in crosssection spaced apart to provide a space for thecirculation of hot gases, the arrangement being such that the hot gases may be'introduced near' the top of the enclosure between the two walls, and flow downwardly to points near the bottom of the enclosure and there pass through the inner wall and around the stationaryretorts; a chimney in the top of the enclosure communicating with the space immediately around the retorts.

9; Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the several retorts rest upon andextend across an offtake pipes. outsidethe enclosure connected to 

